Miranda and the Siamese Cat
by mojoman3061
Summary: Miranda's sick at home, and her cat comforts her. Lizzie and Gordo visit as well.


MIRANDA AND THE SIAMESE CAT

Miranda stayed home from school, sick with fever, aches, and a raw throat. She was stretched out on the living room couch with the TV on. She wasn't following it very well, as she dozed off from time to time. Even when she was awake, she was a little groggy.

"Meow."

"Hey, Ralph." Miranda smiled and reached out to pet the cat who had gotten on the couch next to her. Ralph was a seal point, applehead Siamese. He nosed around her as if he were inspecting her.

"Thanks for stopping by, cat, but I'm gonna close my eyes now," Miranda said to the purring Ralph. She closed her eyes, and he adjusted himself into a comfortable position.

Daniella Sanchez answered the door. "Oh, hi, Lizzie. Hi, Gordo. How are you two today?"

"We're fine, thanks, Mrs. Sanchez," Lizzie said. "How's Miranda? She seemed like she might be coming down with something yesterday."

"She's got some sort of bug, but I think she'll be okay in a day or two."

"That's good," Gordo said. "We got some of Miranda's homework and brought it over."

"Oh, thanks, guys. Come on in. Miranda's in the living room. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you if she's awake."

Miranda's two best friends walked into the house and gave her homework to her mother, with their thanks. They also accepted Mrs. Sanchez's offer of refreshments.

Her hands free, Lizzie stepped out of her sandals as she usually did after school, at Miranda and Gordo's houses as well as her own.

"Hey, Ralph!" Lizzie sat on the floor next to the couch and petted the cat, Gordo next to her. The cat raised his head so Lizzie could stroke under his chin. Ralph always leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and purred whenever Lizzie did that, and Gordo enjoyed watching.

"Aw, he likes you, Lizzie!" Gordo half-teased. It wasn't the first time he'd made that observation; he liked the way Lizzie smiled when he did so.

"Hey, guys," said a scratchy, groggy voice from the couch. "I see you found Ralph."

"He found you, baby," Daniella said, entering the living room with glasses of lemonade on a tray. "He's been right there, next to you, most of the afternoon."

"Hmm. It's like he knows you're not feeling well and so he comes and hangs out with you, "Gordo observed.

"That's cool, the way cats seem to know things like that," said Lizzie.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything," Daniella said, leaving the lemonade on the coffee table.

"Thanks," the three friends replied.

"Matt and Melina say hello," Lizzie said to Miranda.

"Really?" Miranda looked confused.

"Yeah," Gordo replied. "We had to stop by Lizzie's for a minute and they were there, doing homework."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. When they didn't see you with Gordo and me, they asked about you. So. How are you?"

"Worn out," Miranda replied. "Achy. I probably sound about like I feel. Oh, that lemonade looks good."

"Right. Gotta keep you hydrated," Gordo said as he handed Miranda a glass. "No, Ralph, that's for Miranda," Gordo joked as he petted the cat, who meowed in reply.

"Ugh. You sound like Mom. She's been 'giving me fluids' all day." Miranda made finger quotes as she spoke. "I have to admit, it helps." She drank some lemonade. "So, I don't remember Matt and Melina ever asking about me. What's up with that?"

"You don't know?" Gordo's face was a little too deadpan. "He hearts you, Mernda!"

Lizzie laughed and Miranda rolled her eyes at Gordo's reference to matt's crush on Miranda when he was eleven. He'd gotten "I  MRNDA" printed on his bicycle license plate and on a heart-shaped cake. "Don't let Melina hear you say that, Gordo! She'll send her pet snake after you!"

"Pet snake, eh?" Gordo thought Lizzie was kidding. Miranda hadn't heard about it either, and it showed in her face.

"Oh, yeah. Matt needed a Paul O'Neill baseball card to have a Yankee team set in his collection, and Melina had one."

"I think I can guess where this is going, but tell us anyway," Gordo said. Miranda nodded in agreement.

"Well, she agreed to let him have it"--Miranda couldn't stifle a grin--"if he'd do all kinds of stuff for her--"

"I can imagine," Gordo broke in.

"--including feeding her pet snake."

"Whoa," Gordo said, then smiled. "She's good."

"Ah, but wait, there's more," Lizzie said in her late-night-TV-salesman's voice. "The last thing she wanted from him was my dad's baseball card collection."

"Didn't he have a Roberto Clemente rookie card?" Gordo asked.

"I think so. Anyway, Matt gave it to her. I think Dad got it back somehow."

"When was this?" Miranda asked. Ralph was paying attention to the animated humans as if he could understand them.

"In eighth grade, about the time I was going gaga over Ronny Jacobs."

"Aren't they in eighth grade now?" Miranda asked.

"Uh-huh, and Melina's started to look really pretty," Gordo noted. "Almost as pretty as Andie Robinson."

"Oh, you!" Lizzie responded to Gordo's teasing with a headslap. Miranda tried to join her, but couldn't reach Gordo's head.

A/N: In case anyone's wondering, Ralph was a cat from my childhood. Any advice on where to go from here will be appreciated. Is there more to this story? And how do Imake a "heart" symbol?


End file.
